SEMVOX AND NUANCE MAKE ROBOTS LISTEN, UNDERSTAND AND TALK AT INNOROBO 2017

With the world’s most sophisticated technologies for Automatic Speech Recognition, Text-to-Speech-Synthesis and AI-based speech processing, SemVox and Nuance showcase how robots can be given language and understanding at InnoRobo 2017 in Paris from 16 to 18 May, 2017.

Together, Nuance and SemVox show Billy-Billy, the intelligent, talking flowerpot, and together with Unity Robotics, Paul, the most advanced customer service robot.

Billy-Billy is an interactive plant pot, which is made for making elderly people’s easier and more comfortable. Billy-Billy is set up with different sensors; they capture for example the surrounding light or temperature level, for that the robotic pot can assist and support its owners by taking care of plants and herbs. Thanks to the Nuance Vocalizer TTS, Billy-Billy can use the Internet connection to read news, the latest weather information or text messages while understanding the owners’ voice using Nuance VoCon Hybrid ASR. However, Billy-Billy is not only made for elderly people, also children can work with it interactively, as SemVox ODP allows intelligent interaction. Furthermore, through a shared dashboard, you can connect and share your personal agenda. This means that the robot is able for example to remind Grandma and Grandpa to take their medication on time, that a visit from their care staff is pending or that a family visit is pending.

SemVox’s development platform ODP S3 (Ontology-based Dialog Platform) uses innovative semantic technologies and extensive ontologies. It’s not only future-proof and highly flexible but also extremely powerful and serves as the basis for the connection of all kinds of apps, programs, databases and hardware. All these components are context providers for SemVox ODP S3 and allow it to perform highly complex reasoning processes – SemVox ODP S3 learns. And because ODP S3 based solutions can run independently from the operating system and without the need for an Internet connection, seamless cross-device integration isn’t a problem either. We provide a complete tool chain for the development of interactive systems on the basis of ODP S3. The entire development process of any ODP S3 solution – from the specification, dialog construction to the roll-out on the target platform – can be carried out in an integrated development environment (IDE). This enhances the efficiency of the development process and reduces its complexity. At the same time, the applications are more robust and the time-to-market can be significantly reduced.

SemVox ODP S3 enables completely embedded, hybrid (connecting to cloud-servers only when required), or fully cloud-based solutions. It doesn’t matter whether servers are privately hosted, distributed (and hence edge-computing-ready) or centralized – all of this works also cross-device.

The Nuance automatic speech recognizer VoCon Hybrid and the speech synthesis Nuance Vocalizer Expressive are State-of-the-Art components for all application areas from toys and home appliances, announcement systems and learning programs to industrial control applications.

NUANCE VOCON HYBRID 4.10 SDK (ASR)

Nuance VoCon Hybrid 4.10 covers the complete range of functionalities of an SDK for embedded and connected speech recognition solutions. VoCon Hybrid stands for multilingual speech recognition and supports more than 30 different target languages. VoCon Hybrid facilitates unparalleled accuracy and efficiency for a range of applications with voice control functionalities.

NUANCE VOCALIZER EXPRESSIVE 3.0 (TTS)

Nuance Vocalizer 3.0 is an embedded text-to-speech solution which adds a natural sounding voice to your application. The Nuance speech synthesis translates text into speech with the highest accuracy and achieves ideal results in the processing of long texts. Vocalizer Expressive supports 53 languages and 111 voices.

VOCALIZER STUDIO

Practical Tools that Give You Meticulous Control Over Your Text-to-Speech Audio Output. Nuance Vocalizer Studio is a suite of easy-to-use graphical tools that give you meticulous control over your text-to-speech (TTS) audio output. With Vocalizer Studio, you’ll take full advantage of Vocalizer’s ability to automate more types of calls, improve caller experience and reduce implementation and operational costs.